As I write this, Leggie Ish bamboozled the in-from India opener KL Rahul with his spinning away ball that glances off the high part of Rahul’s bat to Ross Taylor in the slips, in the second innings of the first test match of the New Zealand tour. He has reasons to be pleased with his performance.

ish-sodhi-appealing

Inderbir Singh Sodhi, more popularly knows as Ish Sodhi is the first India-born player in the New Zealand team, though black caps had a few more Indian-origin players like Dipak Patel, Jeetan Patel and Tarun Nethula, but none of them were born in India.

Ludhiana-born Ish himself clarified once, “My family moved to NZ in 1996, I was four at the time. My father is a doctor by profession and currently manages a mental health service and my mother a teacher. It’s fair to say I wasn’t born into a sporting family but my love for sport, especially cricket, grew from battles in the backyard with friends. I have visited Ludhiana several times and still consider it my second home.”

Ish Sodhi bowling stats – ESPNcricinfo

Along with Mitchell Santner and Mark Craig, Sodhi has build a formidable spin trio which has done well in the past. Ish Sodhi had put up a good show in the World T20 tournament in India earlier this year and hopes to be on the winning side. The 23-year-old is confident that his team is capable of giving the hosts a run for their money.

“Playing against India in India is definitely one of the biggest challenges going around in international cricket. For a chance to able to do that, hopefully getting a crack in the first Test, is an exciting opportunity. One that I hope to get,” Sodhi told media before before the teams left for Kanpur.

Going by his success, Ish would inspire many more Indian youngsters residing in this part of the world.